City takes baby step to keeping Raiders, A’s in Oakland

Late Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously approved spending $3.5 million on plans for “Coliseum City” — a new stadium, hotels, conference center, shopping, entertainment and other amenities in the 750-acre area around O.co Coliseum and along Hegenberger Road toward the airport.

The key word there is “plans,” and they could take 18 months to get done. The Raiders’ lease, as well as the A’s, expires next year.

The $3.5 million will be split between a development team and an Oakland urban planning firm for environmental review.

“Along with a few other things we have going, this Coliseum project could transform the city of Oakland forever,” said City Council President Larry Reid, whose district includes the Coliseum complex. “When I see this actually getting built, that’s when I’ll get excited. But this is a great first step.”

Great? We’ll go with calling it a good, small baby step — but maybe one that should have been taken a couple of years ago.